Bus carrying 26 passengers rear-ends SUV in Williston; two injured

Vermont State Police say a bus carrying 26 passengers has rear-ended an SUV on a slippery road, injuring two people.

Mar. 15, 2013

Traffic backs up Friday night on Interstate 89 in South Burlington after a snow squall triggered dozens of accidents around Chittenden County, including one involving a bus near the Winooski River bridge on the highway. / MIKE DONOGHUE/FREE PRESS

Vermont State Police say a bus carrying 26 passengers rear-ended an SUV on a slippery road, injuring two people Friday night.

Police say the crash between the Greyhound bus and Mercedes SUV in Williston happened Friday night on Interstate 89 near mile marker 89 during a heavy snowstorm.

Authorities say they learned that the SUV had slowed because of the weather when it was rear-ended by the bus.

Twenty-one-year-old Thomas Tarlow, of Medfield, Mass., was behind the wheel of the SUV, which suffered major rear-end damage. Two people in his vehicle were injured.

Fifty-nine-year-old Roger Curfman, of Springfield, Vt., was driving the bus, which suffered minor front-end damage. No one on the bus was injured.

The bus was able to leave the scene, but passengers got on another bus to continue their trip.

A dispatcher at the Williston barracks reached Saturday morning could not provide more details about the crash and said the investigating trooper would be available later in the day for comment.

Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday state police said areas of Interstate 89 were still icy and "extremely hazardous," especially south of exit 12 and all overpasses. "Motorists should reduce speed and travel with caution. Road crews are doing all they can to keep up with the road conditions," said a news release from the Williston barracks.

An icy night makes for dangerous roads

Emergency crews responded to numerous crashes, slide-offs and spin-outs throughout Chittenden County Friday night. First responders reported black ice and treacherous conditions that in some cases reduced the speed of travel of 5 mph or less.

Portions of the interstate and of Vermont 2A were closed due to conditions and wrecks, emergency workers said on their radios. Traffic elsewhere was reported to be at a standstill, including shortly after 10 p.m., when a tractor-trailer was reported by state road authorities to be “a bit sideways” on French Hill on I-89 in Williston.

The National Weather Service office in South Burlington reported just after 8 p.m. that 2.2 inches of snow had fallen.

The bus accident was reported at about 7:45 p.m.

An hour later, northbound traffic on I-89 remained backed up in both lanes from the cloverleaf in South Burlington to the bridge over the Winooski River. A bus could be seen driving away with a police escort at about 8:40 p.m., and a tow truck pulled away a damaged car. It was unclear whether that bus was the one involved in the accident.

The Vermont State Police reported just before 9 p.m. that the bus had been removed from the scene, and traffic was starting to flow again.

The late-winter snowstorm prompted a spate of comments on Twitter, from people sharing photos of fluffly powder to lamenting an evening commute of 30 miles from Burlington to Montpelier that took 90 minutes.